All Wrapped Up In Mystery
by FiresofAnarchy
Summary: A collection of one shots featuring various characters from the Star Trek 2009 universe.
1. Boundaries

**All Wrapped Up In Mystery**

 **Boundaries**

 **So I'm not sure how this turned out. I originally intended it to go a different direction but the narrative took me here. The lack of Scotty and Jaylah on this site is a problem and I aim to do my part. Kirk get's all the ladies already so it's Scotty's time to shine. I hope I got the voices right on Scotty and Jaylah seeing as how they both have pretty complicated dictions to get down. Anyways I hope you like it. The title of the fic comes from the song Photograph by Def Leppard.**

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Scotty was currently concentrating very hard where he was underneath of one of the bridge consoles, tongue between his teeth. He needed to get the wiring just right or the next time someone activated this particular work station the whole thing would blow up in their face. If he was being honest with himself this was probably more of a job for one of the junior engineers, but this was his ship and he could damn well do what he pleased, if for no other reason than to make sure it got done exactly the way he wanted it to. Everyone else was still off enjoying their shore leave anyways so it wasn't like people were lining up to take his place. He firmly gripped the small tool in his hand between his thumb and index finger and was about to move on to the next stage of his work when something, or more specifically someone, distracted him and caused his head to shoot up and bang off the underside of the console; it hurt a lot.

Before the crew's most recent adventure out to the far reaches of known space Keenser had really been the only one he ever had to worry about barging in on him while he was in the middle of something. Now though, it seemed that Jaylah and her calls of "Montgomery Scotty" were destined to become a daily inevitability. At first he didn't like her mispronunciation of his name, but now it had become their thing and he couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face every time it tumbled out of her mouth, though in his current state of pain it was hard to smile at all.

"Montgomery Scotty," there it was again.

"Aye I heard ya the first time lassie," he said standing and rubbing his head. "Might just want to give me a wee bit of warning next time."

"Oh," she said dejected. "It was not my wish to disturb you."

"Nay, it's fine," he said. "What do ya want?"

"Shouldn't ya be out enjoying the sights and sounds before ya get shipped off to the academy," he added after she didn't answer.

"James T. said much the same thing," was all she offered.

"Ya talked to the captain," he said surprised; he hadn't seen the captain himself in almost a week.

"Not really talked," she said. "He had been drinking alcohol."

"Aye," he said in understanding. "Well not everyone can be as unaffected as the two of us now can they."

"What exactly did he say," he asked curiously.

"I looked like I needed a distraction and that if I wanted someone to show me around he would make himself available," she recounted.

"Aye," he said. "I was afraid of that."

"He was odd after that," she said. "And he kept putting his arm around me."

"I told him that it was behavior not fitting a commander of stature such as himself," she continued. "He just smiled."

"I think I'll have a talk with him," he said suddenly feeling like he needed to.

"I hope he get's back to himself soon," was all she said as he bolted off of the bridge with newfound purpose.

He found Kirk easily enough in one of the main concourse areas near where the ship was docked and quietly wondered to himself why he hadn't sought out the captain or any of the rest of the crew since the captain's own birthday party. It wasn't that he didn't want to see them, but he couldn't allow himself too much free time while his ship was in such disarray. That was the problem with being transferred to a new ship, especially one fresh off the assembly line so to speak; the brass never put much of an effort into actually making the ship functional under actual conditions and just built it to baseline specs. Baseline specs just wouldn't do on his ship.

"Hey Scotty," the captain greeted him with a smile. "Long time no see."

"Captain," was all he offered in reply.

"Something wrong," Kirk said upon seeing the strange expression on Scotty's face.

"I know ya can hardly help yourself while sober and what alcohol can do to one's self control," Scotty started slowly. "But I would consider it a close personal favor if ya refrained from hitting on Jaylah in the future."

"What," Kirk said stunned.

"Now I came here to talk through this man to man," Scotty said. "If you're just going to laugh in me face then I'll leave."

"What," Kirk said again still confused.

"She said ya were practically all over her," Scotty said.

"Wait," Kirk said. "Are you jealous?"

"Nay," Scotty said quickly. "Just think she deserves better than a drunken night with the captain."

"Something that you could offer," Kirk said smugly.

"Nay," Scotty said again. "All I'm saying is."

"That you're jealous," Kirk cut him off. "It's ok."

"I'll stay away from her if it'll make you happy," Kirk continued patting him on the back.

"Thank ya sir," Scotty said.

"Now, you better go get her before someone else does," Kirk said with a wink. "I'm not the only one around that would like to show our new alien friend a good time."

"Right," Scotty said clearing his throat. "Sir."

With that settled he turned to leave a still smiling Captain Kirk to go about his business. He made his way back onboard the new Enterprise hoping that Jaylah would still be where he had left her. When he arrived back on the bridge he was surprised to see the panel he had removed underneath of the console earlier put back in place and a smug looking Jaylah leaning against the now lit up console holding the same small tool he had been using earlier.

"Montgomery Scotty," there was that name again. "You're back."

"Aye I am lass," he said. "Kirk's fine now."

"Good," she said. "Your machine's fine now too."

"I see," he said. "This your work."

"Taking credit for someone else's work," she said scandalously. "Is that how low you think of me?

"No," he said quickly. "It's just an expression."

"I don't think lowly of ya at all," he quickly added.

"An expression," she said questioningly. " I see I still have much to learn."

"I'd be happy to teach ya sometime," he said.

"I would like that," she said.

When Kirk returned to the ship to find Scotty and Jaylah shouting random things across the room at each other, Scotty sitting in the captain's chair with a book in his lap and Jaylah leaned up against a far wall with a concentrated look on her face, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He may be an admitted ladies man who often didn't take his relationships as serious as people thought he should but he couldn't deny a good love story when he saw one, and this right in front of him was definitely one for the ages.


	2. Daredevil

**All Wrapped Up In Mystery**

 **Daredevil**

 **This fic takes place at the Bonneville Salt Flats. 230 kg is around 500 pounds which is typical for motorcycles. Star Trek uses kg so I went that direction with it. I was listening to It's My Life by Bon Jovi while writing this which is why it comes up.** **I fixed the eyes thing, thank you for telling me.**

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Scotty had had a bad feeling about this from the moment he had seen the look on Kirk's face, but the way Jaylah's face lit up at the prospect of getting to be on a motorcycle again quickly pushed those feelings to the back of his mind. It wasn't that he didn't trust Kirk, the captain had proven time and time again that he was perfectly capable of piloting relics like the beast in front of him skillfully, he just didn't trust the engineering. The pitiful excuse for a vehicle in front of him was early 21st century technology at best and Jaylah, or the captain for that matter, risking their lives on something so primitive wasn't exactly his idea of a good time. Damn that smile that appeared on her face as Kirk handed her a helmet.

"Ya sure ya don't want to try something a wee bit safer first," he protested feebly.

Vehicles of that time did, after all, run on gasoline and were thus susceptible to fire or worse.

"Come on Scotty," Kirk said in a confident tone. "We already drove one of these through a war zone; what's the worst that could happen out here?"

Out here happened to be the middle of the desert which Scotty thought was a strange place in general for a vacation, but he wasn't going to bring that up now. He had to concede the point that they had in fact driven through a battlefield where phasers, blasters, or any other manner of weaponry could have torn the small vehicle to bits in a matter of seconds and did God knows what to its passengers. Granted he hadn't exactly been completely on board with the idea back then either, but they were in the middle of a combat situation and the captain had already made up his mind. But this wasn't a combat situation and Kirk wasn't his captain right now, technically he didn't have to listen to him.

"I will be fine Montgomery Scotty," Jaylah said.

And there it was, the voice he did have to listen to. Maybe not listen to necessarily, but he wasn't about to ruin her fun with his own fears.

"Okay fine," he said reluctantly. "But don't say I didn't warn ya."

He watched as Jaylah eagerly climbed on board with Kirk and they raced away across the flat land. Apparently people used to come out to places like this all the time to try and break land speed records and just to enjoy the speed. He personally didn't see the appeal of any of it, why put your life on the line just to have your name on a piece of paper signifying that you've got a little more crazy in you than the last guy. He preferred being indoors, alone with the quiet and his work; that was where he came up with his most groundbreaking theories and slowly worked towards perfecting the Enterprise's systems. Come to think of it there was probably something on the Enterprise that needed fixing right now; he was sure that if he could phrase it the right way he could get away with the excuse and catch a shuttle back to Starfleet.

Before he could go any further down that line of thought the daring duo returned to a spot right in front of him and hopped off the bike with smiles on their faces.

"That was, exhilarating James T.," Jaylah said as she took off her helmet. "Thank you."

"Any time," the captain replied with a smirk.

"Now that you've both risked yer lives maybe we can head back," Scotty said hopefully. "I need a drink."

"You always need a drink," Kirk said smiling.

"I'm pretty sure that's offensive," he replied.

"Nah," Kirk said. "Look at Jaylah here, not even from this planet and she can drink you under the table any day."

"That is not true," he defended weakly.

"You know it is," Kirk said. "It's okay though, now you know how the rest of us have felt all these years."

"Besides," he continued. "I think Jaylah has a request of you."

"What," Scotty said turning to face her.

"Ride with me Montgomery Scotty," she said holding out the helmet that had been Kirk's.

"Come on man," Kirk said nudging him in the direction of his certain death.

"I don't think that's a good idea lassie," he tried.

"Come on Montgomery Scotty," Jaylah said. "Live a little."

He was left wondering when she had started using English phrases like that so casually as he found himself staring into her hopeful eyes. How could he say no to that?

"Okay fine," he said.

She ran over to the bike so fast that he began to get skeptical again. A jumpy pilot was never a good thing and Jaylah looked like she was on the edge of bouncing off the walls, if any were around. He also wasn't sure about her skills at piloting the vehicle in general, but they would at least be superior to his own and he wasn't particularly thrilled at the idea of sharing a ride with Kirk. With reluctance he followed her over and prepared to hold on for dear life.

The motorcycle as it turned out came equipped with a radio and just before he and Jaylah set out on their own journey across the desert she turned it on and hit a few of the buttons before a song that apparently was "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi came on. He wasn't a particularly big fan of it but it definitely was her style and she was the one in control of a 230 kilogram death trap so he wasn't going to complain.

The wind flowing by on both sides of his body was actually a pretty exhilarating feeling and he found himself actually having an inkling of fun. It wasn't something that he would necessarily seek out to do on his own and he still had reservations about the safety of such an old vehicle, but if Jaylah used those hopeful eyes on him again he wouldn't necessarily be opposed to the idea of giving in. They skidded to a stop in front of a smirking Kirk and Scotty found himself suddenly feeling subconscious about how tightly he arms were wrapped around the woman in front of him.

He got off the bike with shaky legs and slowly made his way a safe distance away from the machine.

"Fun," she said questioningly.

"Sure lassie," he said with a smile.

She wrapped him in a hug and suddenly he didn't find himself caring very much about how close he may or may not have come to death that day.


	3. Manning Up

**All Wrapped Up In Mystery**

 **Manning Up**

 **First off, I hope everyone's Valentines Day was good. Mine was spent forever alone, but it was still a good day. This chapter has been sitting around on my computer for a while and I just got around to finishing it. The song mentioned in this chapter is Armageddon It by Def Leppard.**

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He could do this, Scotty tried to tell himself as he looked out at the campus of Starfleet Academy that surrounded him. He was chief engineer on the flagship of the Federation fleet and had successfully helped Captain Kirk and the Enterprise's crew defeat several unsavory figures who sought to destroy the Federation and its people. Even when he wasn't onboard the ship he had still done his part, Kirk himself said they could have never handled the whole situation with Khan and Admiral Marcus without him. He had met with various new alien species as part of the Enterprise's crew and used his engineering prowess to get the ship out of various tight spots that would have looked hopeless to the eyes of an outside observer. He could certainly do this, he told himself again as he started walking towards the dorms.

It had started with Kirk of all things and a conversation that turned from innocent to uncomfortable in a matter of moments.

"First shore leave on Earth since the retrofit," Kirk had said with an unassuming grin. "Any plans?"

"Ya and I have a very different definition of retrofit captain," he had replied. "Nay plans to speak of though."

"Not even with a certain Starfleet cadet you haven't seen in over a year," Kirk said with a smirk.

"I cannot say that I have any idea what yer referring to captain," he said.

"Come on Scotty, you've been avoiding her for over a year," Kirk said.

"We were on a mission," he said.

"You had ways of contacting her," Kirk said. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anythin' captain," he said. "The good of the ship comes first."

"Don't give me that bullshit Scotty," Kirk said. "I've seen the way you look at her, a way I've never seen you look at anyone before, so I think it's time you manned up and told her how you feel."

The captain had been right, avoiding her because he was too much of a coward wasn't fair to either of them. They were friends and if she didn't feel the same way then there wasn't any reason they couldn't go back to just being that. He had went over what he was going to say in his head while he went about his final duties before the crew was all released to enjoy the sights and sounds of Earth. McCoy and Kirk were off to find their way to the nearest bar, McCoy probably to drink away whatever sorrows he had that he wouldn't tell anyone else about and Kirk to probably get drunk and hit on anything that moved until someone agreed to come back to the ship with him. He's pretty sure he heard Uhura talking about an exhibit on Alien dialects that was apparently supposed to be really interesting to people like her. And Spock was doing whatever Spock did when they had shore leave, probably something particularly Vulcan.

It had been hard for the crew since Chekov's death shortly after Kirk's birthday party the last time they were on Earth. Nobody was sure what happened, an accident they had called it, and they had all just sort of shut down and thrown themselves into getting the new Enterprise ready for space and then the mission itself once they were onboard. A few more close calls with their own deaths and the crew had loosened up enough to have conversations like the one he had with Kirk again, but it still wasn't the same. He guessed it never would be. Maybe a little shore leave would do them all good.

That's how he had found himself traveling to the Starfleet Academy and standing in the central courtyard going over again what he was going to say. He was probably overthinking it, this was Jaylah, she didn't need fancy words or long drawn out love confessions. They had built up what they had with each other already without all of that. Still, she deserved something more than just the ramblings of a man who couldn't hold it together when he was nervous. He made it to what he thought was her dorm and slowly began checking the various doors for the number he was looking for.

It took slightly longer than he thought it would before he came upon room 119, the one he thought was her room. A loud song filled with sexual innuendo and references to some guy named Steve was blaring through the door and he could definitely see it being something that she was into. He spent much of his time in school studying to classical music and hard rock wasn't much of his thing, but Jaylah's music selection had helped wipe out an invading, alien army so he couldn't much complain. Steeling his nerves he knocked on the door, making sure that it could be heard over the music. After a few moments the music shut off and the door opened to reveal Jaylah, not looking much different than the last time he had seen her, but still with a more authoritative air about her probably picked up through the Academy.

"Montgomery Scotty," she said surprised and threw her arms around him.

"It's nice to see you too lass," he said awkwardly hugging back.

"Oh thank God," another voice said from inside the room. "She's been talking about you nonstop since we got here."

"Can you please just fuck her already so I don't have to hear her gush anymore," the voice continued.

"Stop it Nylah," Jaylah yelled back. "That's not what's been happening at all."

"You can lie to yourself if you want to," Nylah said. "Just don't expect me to sit through anymore of your fawning; I'll study in the library if I have to."

"That's Nylah," Jaylah said accusingly. "She's my roommate."

"A pleasure to meet ya lass," he said.

"He actually has the accent and everything," Nylah said. "If she wasn't so enamored with you I'd pull you in here and go to town right now."

"Nylah," Jaylah said exasperated.

"What," she said innocently. "You know I love a good accent, besides, having sex with a superior officer could really help fast track my career."

"Don't I get a say in this," Scotty said uncomfortably.

"Of course," Nylah said. "But you'd say yes, so what's the point of lying to ourselves."

"We're going to go find somewhere to catch up," Jaylah said equally uncomfortable. "I'll see you later Nylah."

"Don't let me stop you," she said. 'If you need me to step out of the room for a few hours just let me know."

"We won't," Jaylah said over her shoulder.

"Never say never," Nylah said as the door closed on her.

"So that was Nylah," Jaylah said as the walked down the hall.

"Aye," he said. "She was a little presumptive."

"She's nice though," Jaylah said.

They walked back out towards the central courtyard and settled onto a small bench that overlooked the San Francisco Bay.

"So why did you come here," Jaylah said.

"To see ya," he said. "And to ask ya if ya wanted to go out somewhere and catch up."

"I would like that," she said. "I know just the place downtown."

"Lead the way lass," he said as she pulled him along.

It hadn't exactly been a love declaration, but somehow he knew Kirk would approve.

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 **Jaylah speaks a little more fluently in this since she's been at Starfleet Academy for a year. Also what do you think of Nylah? I thought giving Jaylah a Gaila type roommate would be fun. 119 is my room number at my dorm so I just had to throw that in there. This fic is also on Archive Of Our Own now.**


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